Pope hopes Day of Reflection on Mining ethics will benefit industry, workers
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent his greetings to representatives, laborers and
families involved in the Mining Industry on the occasion of a Vatican organized conference
focusing on the ethical issues involved in the sector.
On behalf of the Pope,
Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone welcomed the Pontifical Council for Justice
and Peace’s Day of Reflection September 7th on environmental
and social questions relevant to the mining industry.
He described the initiative
as “important” because not only did it bring together leaders of different faiths
of many multinational corporations, it was “the first occasion in which senior mining
executives have come together , close to the Successor of Peter, to reflect on the
importance of their human and environmental responsibilities…to make a serious examination
of conscience on what must be done so that their industry may offer a constant positive
contribution to integral human development.”
Leading executives from some of
the world’s most important mining companies participated: African Rainbow Minerals,
Anglo American, AngloGold Ashanti, Areva, Baker Hughes, BHP Billiton, China Minmetals
Corporation, Curis Resources, Fortescue, MMG, Newmont, Rio Tinto and Zamin Resources.
Other
participants in the Day of Reflection included several Church representatives
expert in issues of mining, a delegate of the Secretariat of State, the International
Council on Mining and Metals, the World Gold Council, Caritas Internationalis and
Oxfam America, for a total of about 40 persons.
Thanks to previous meetings
between mining executives and the Pontifical Council, the Day was meant to respond
frankly to serious questions of mining companies in communities around the world.
What are today’s challenges in the mining sector? what could be the industry’s goals?
How can decision-makers best guide their corporations towards their short- and long-term
objectives? *********************************************************************************************************** Attached
please find the full text of the Holy Father's greeting sent on the occasion of the
Day of Reflection.
Cardinal Peter Turkson Pontifical Council for Justice
and Peace Vatican City
Your Eminence,
On behalf of the Holy Father,
I am pleased to greet the executives of the mining industry who have gathered together
at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, in order to study the principal ethical
problems arising from their activities, especially in Africa and in other developing
regions of the world. His Holiness also wishes to extend his greeting to everyone
involved in mining activities: the workers and their families, the unions, the local
communities and the various states in which mineral resources are found.
This
day of reflection, promoted by Your Eminence, takes on particular importance not only
because it brings together leaders of many multinational corporations involved in
this sector – Christians, followers of other religions, and non-believers – but above
all because it is the first occasion in which senior mining executives have come together,
close to the Successor of Peter, to reflect on the importance of their human and environmental
responsibilities. In other words, they wish to make a serious examination of conscience
on what must be done so that their industry may offer a constant positive contribution
to integral human development.
The extraction industries are seen, not always
without reason, as unjustly exploiting resources and local populations, resorting
even to slavery and to the forced removal of entire populations. An ancient proverb
of the People of Israel says, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s
teeth are set on edge” (Jer 31:29). This warning is perennially valid; it not only
alludes to the complexity of ethical questions, difficult to resolve with one answer
that is valid for all, but also reminds us of the seriousness of our human actions.
Mining, like many other industrial activities, has ecological and social consequences
which go well beyond national borders and pass from one generation to the next.
The
participants at this meeting are aware that, so as not to repeat grave errors of the
past, decisions today cannot be taken solely from geological perspectives or the possible
economic benefits for investors and for the states in which the companies are based.
A new and more profound decision-making process is indispensable and inescapable,
one which takes into consideration the complexity of the problems involved, in a context
of solidarity. Such a context requires, first of all, that workers be assured of all
their economic and social rights, in full accordance with the norms and recommendations
of the International Labour Organization. Likewise it requires the assurance that
extraction activities respect international standards for the protection of the environment.
The great challenge of business leaders is to create a harmony of interests, involving
investors, managers, workers, their families, the future of their children, the preservation
of the environment on both a regional and international scale, and a contribution
to world peace.
The present meeting may not be able to provide an answer to
the many challenges which confront the mining executives in their decision-making.
Nevertheless, the Holy Father prays that the meeting in your Dicastery may lead to
such a process guided by moral principles which seek the good of all parties involved
in the sector. This will enable the industry’s leaders to face the difficulties that
arise, with special attention to miners and their families, to the surrounding population,
to the environment, and to global and intergenerational solidarity. Local churches
will surely wish to imitate your Pontifical Council’s solicitude, and place themselves
at the service of miners, to as to help them develop an ever more integral vision
of this question.
His Holiness assures all those involved in mining activities
around the world of his closeness in prayer. Upon you, your co-workers, employees
and workers, the Holy Father cordially invokes abundant divine blessings.
Yours
sincerely in Christ, Tarcisio Card. Bertone Secretary of State